Maymona Abdi and Karima Watts were arrested by police in January in Hargeisa, and face the prospect of 40 lashes each as part of a sentence handed down after they were convicted of consuming alcohol, which is forbidden there
The mother of one of the two Canadian women detained in Somaliland since January is pleading with the government in Canada to secure their release.
Somaliland, on the Horn of Africa, is a self-declared state that proclaimed independence from Somalia in 1991 but its sovereignty remains unrecognized by the international community.Fahima Hassan, the mother of Ms. Abdi, urged Ottawa to contact members of Somaliland’s government and convince them to release the women.“Maymona and Karima were born and grew up in Ottawa, Canada, as best friends,” Ms. Hassan added in a statement provided to The Globe and Mail.
Ms. Abdi suffered a bad bout of pneumonia at one point. “I got really sick in here. I thought I was going to die. They don’t give us doctors in here.” The judgment was announced April 8 but the women have not yet been flogged because the prosecution appealed the sentence in order to try and obtain an even harsher punishment. The women have not been released because of the appeal.
The Canadian government did not have an immediate response when asked for reaction to the flogging sentence.
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